'Deceiver' by Chris Thile

Published 6:30 am, Sunday, December 12, 2004

DeceiverChris Thile
Sugar Hill
3 1/2 stars

Despites being pegged as a new grass troupe, acousti-trio Nickel Creek has never been ashamed of its pop/rock inclinations. See its cover of Pavement's Spit on a Stranger on 2002's This Side for proof. So it's no big shakes that Chris Thile, the group's prodigiously gifted mandolin player, would get around to making a lush, out-and-out pop record, as he's done with Deceiver. And it's a masterful one. Thile's brash decision to learn and play every instrument on the record (drums, piano, bass and guitar were all new to him) suggests that he wanted to hear these songs in a very specific way. The ride is dramatic and full of engaging contrasts. Opener The Wrong Idea sets the tone, running from cool to scalding without warning. Empire Falls packs a heavy-riffing punch that's trumped by the scratchy guitar of the title cut, while This Is All Real starts things toward a gentle close. If you expected Thile to cater to bluegrass orthodoxy and new grass's oft-meandering constructs, this album's title suggests you've been duped.